Panthers Play at No. 18 Auburn Wednesday on SECN+

GSU has won two of last three games vs. SEC foes.

GEORGIA STATE (5-4) at No. 19/18 AUBURN (8-1)
Wednesday, Dec. 14 | 8 p.m. ET | Neville Arena

TV: SECN+
RADIO: Georgia State Radio Network on WRAS-FM 88.5 and the GSU Athletics mobile app.

THE TIPOFF: Coming off a nine-day break for final exams, Georgia State plays at No. 19/18 Auburn Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on SECN+.

> The Panthers (5-4) have not played since a 66-46 loss at Northeastern on Dec. 4. Auburn (8-1) suffered its first loss of the season Saturday vs. Memphis, 83-72 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

> Sophomore guard Dwon Odom is the Panthers' leading scorer with 16.1 ppg, second-leading rebounder at 5.7 pg and leader in assists at 3.3 pg. The No. 9 scorer in the Sun Belt Conference, Odom has reached 20 points four times, including a career-high 27 in the win over UNC Asheville and 24 vs. Belmont.

> Sophomore forward Ja'Heim Hudson averages 11.4 points and leads GSU in rebounding (8.8/4th in Sun Belt), field goal percentage (.537) and blocks (11).

IT JUST MEANS MORE: Georgia State has six all-time wins against SEC foes. The Panthers have recorded three victories over Georgia, along with wins at Alabama, Auburn and Tennesssee. All six were on the road or on neutral courts.

> In fact, the Panthers have won two of their last three games against SEC foes. In 2018-19, Georgia State knocked off Georgia, 91-67, in the Cayman Island Classic and then won at Alabama, 83-80. Georgia State's last SEC game was a 79-50 loss at Mississippi State last December.

> Head coach Jonas Hayes is a former SEC player from Georgia, and he is 3-0 against the SEC as a coach. While serving as the interim head coach at Xavier last spring, Hayes led the Musketeers to wins over Florida (72-56), Vanderbilt (75-73) and Texas A&M (73-72 in the championship game) en route to the 2022 NIT title.

> Auburn holds a 6-1 win in the series with Georgia State, including an 83-65 win at Auburn in the 2016 Cancun Challenge in the last meeting.

> Georgia State's win in the series was a 77-72 win at Auburn on Dec. 22, 2003.

> Assistant coach Allen Payne was a three-year starter at Auburn and served as team captain his senior year of 2013-14. His wife, the former Tyrese Tanner, was a standout for the Auburn women's team.

> Playing for Vanderbilt last season, Jamaine Mann had 10 points and three steals in 12 minutes against Auburn.

RANK THAT: Georgia State's last game against a nationally-ranked opponent was last year's first-round NCAA matchup with No. 1 Gonzaga. The Panthers led that game 54-52 with 13 minutes left before Gonzaga went on to win 93-72.

> Georgia State's last win over a ranked team was the Panthers' memorable win over No. 16-ranked Baylor in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, thanks to R.J. Hunters's last-second 3-pointer.

> The win over Baylor is one of has four victories over ranked teams in GSU history:
No. 25 Wisconsin, 50-49, 3-15-01 (NCAA)
No. 15 St. Joseph's, 95-90, 12-21-01
No. 25 Tulsa, 72-67, 12-1-03 (Gwinnett Arena)
No. 16 Baylor, 57-56, 3-19-15 (NCAA)

CHARITY CASE: Georgia State ranks No. 2 in the Sun Belt and No. 25 in D-1 in free throw shooting at 76.8 percent. Individually, Dwon Odom is third in the Sun Belt in free throws made and atttempted and No. 4 in percentage at 84.8 percent (39-for-46).

STEPPING IN: With injuries juggling the lineup early in the season, two Panthers have stepped in and stepped up.

> Sophomore Danny Stubbs, who played only 18 minutes all of last season, is averaging 5.6 points while playing about 25 minutes a game. He scored a career-high 16 points in the win over UNC Asheville, including 6-of-7 free throws in the final minute to help seal the win, and then added 11 points vs. Belmont and 10 vs. Middle Georgia.

> Kalik Brooks, the former walk-on who was awarded a scholarship prior to the season, has started three games and is averaging 4.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.0 steals. He averaged 9.3 points in the three-game Capitol Classic, including a career-high 12 points vs. UNC Asheville.

PRIDE OF THE PEACH STATE: Georgia State is the winningest Division I college basketball team in the state of Georgia since the 2011-12 season.

> Since the start of 2011-12, Georgia State has won 64 percent of its games with a record of 229-129.

> Georgia State's 229 victories are more than Mercer, the next best team in the state with 217 wins and a .570 winning percentage during that time.

> The Panthers also easily outpace Georgia Southern (192), Georgia (181), Georgia Tech (176) and Kennesaw State (88).

> Georgia State has made four NCAA Tournament appearances in the last decade; the other five Division I programs have combined for three NCAA appearances in that time (Georgia-1, Georgia Tech-1, Mercer-1).

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Players Mentioned

#21 Kalik Brooks: G; 6' 5"; Freshman

#15 Ja'Heim Hudson: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

#20 Danny Stubbs: G; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#1 Dwon Odom: G; 6' 2"; Sophomore

#2 Jamaine Mann: G; 6' 6"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#21 Kalik Brooks
: 6' 5"; Freshman
: G

#15 Ja'Heim Hudson
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F

#20 Danny Stubbs
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: G

#1 Dwon Odom
: 6' 2"; Sophomore
: G

#2 Jamaine Mann
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: G